infoneer-pulse:

The around 6 million subscribers to GM’s OnStar connected car service can now rent out their cars to other drivers via a deal between the auto giant and peer-to-peer car sharing startup RelayRides. The partnership was announced back in October of last year, and the service is live as of Tuesday.

RelayRides — which raised money from GM’s venture arm — says it is the first third party to use OnStar’s API, and later this Summer GM plans to open up the API to other third party developers, too. OnStar uses satellite-connected on-board units to offer connected services, but the primary application to date has been to summon help in the case of an accident or other emergency. GM offers the service to car buyers free for a few months to try out before initiating a monthly fee — the service can cost $200 to $300 per year — and is looking to offer more services to retain those trial customers.

» via GigaOM